POTATO. 



POTATO-FLY. 



tions with regard to the potato dispersed 

 through the agricultural journals, among which 

 is one " On the Manures best adapted for Pota- 

 toes," by the Rev. E. Cartwright. He remarks, 

 " The soil on which my experiments were tried 

 is a ferruginous sand, brought to a due texture 

 and consistence by a liberal covering of pond- 

 mud. Of this soil, in its improved state, I mean 

 by the accession of pond mud (for, having been 

 used merely as a nursery for raising forest 

 trees, previous to these experiments, the nur- 

 seryman had not thought it necessary to make 

 use of any other manure), the following is the 

 analysis 400 grains gave : 



Grains. 



Of silicious sand, of different degrees of fineness 280 

 Finely divided matter ------ 104 



Loss in water ....... 16 



4UO 



" The finely divided matter contained 



Grains. 



Carbonate of lime - - .... is 



Oxide of iron ----_-__ 7 

 Loss by incineration (probably vegetable decom- 

 posing matter) ---.-..17 



" The remainder, principally silex and alu- 

 mina. There were no indications of either 

 gypsum or phosphate of lime. 



" On the 14th of April, 1804, a portion of this 

 soil was laid out, in beds 1 yard wide and 40 

 in length, and were manured as in the follow- 

 ing table. On the same day 'the whole was 

 planted with potatoes, a single row in each 

 bed, and that the general experiment might be 

 conducted with all possible accuracy, each bed 

 received the same number of sets. On the 

 21st of September the potatoes were taken up, 

 when the produce of each row was, in succes- 

 sion, as follows : 



Manures in bushels, per acre. Producp. 



1. No manure ---_._. 157 



2. Salt 8 bush., soot 30 bush. 240 



3. Chandler's graves 9$ cwt. - ... 220 



4. Salt 8 bush., wood-ashes 60 bush. - - - 217 



5. Salt 8 bush., gypsum peat 363 bush., lime 121 



bush. ----____ 201 



6. Salt 8 bush., lime 121 bush., dung 363 bush. - 199 



7. Salt 8 bush. -----__ ]Q8 



8. Salt 8 bush., graves 9? cwt. 195 



9. Soot 30 bush. ---....192 

 10 Fresh dung 363 bush. ... 192 



11. SaltS bush., malt-dust 60 bush. 189 



12. Wood-ashes 60 bush. 187 



13. Salt 8 bush., decayed leaves 363 bush. - - 187 



14. Salt 8 bush., peat-ashes 363 bush. - - - 185 



15. Malt-dust 60 bush. 184 



16. Salt 8 bush., lime 121 bush., peat 363 bush. - 183 



17. Salt 8 bush., saw-dust 363 bush. 180 



18. Salt 8 bush., peat 363 bush., bone-dust - - 178 



19. Decayed leaves 363 bush. - ... 175 



20. Salt 8 bush., lirne 121 bush., sulphuric acid - 175 



21. Salt Shush., peat 363 bush. ... 171 



22. Salt 8 bush., lime 121 bush. 167 



23. Peat 363 bush. ------ 159 



24. Saw-dust 363 bush. 155 



25. Lime 121 bush. ______ 150 



The following experiments upon potatoes are 

 extracted from Mr. George Sinclair's Commu- 

 nication to the Board of Agriculture, February 

 25th, 1820. These experiments were made upon 

 a soil composed of three-fourths silicious sand, 

 in plots of 36 square feet. 



ButhelsofSalt 

 per Acre. No. 



1. Planted without any kind 



of manure 124 



2. Twelve cubic inches of 



salt with the seed - 13f 106 the smallest. 



3. Six cubic inches of salt 



with the seed 6 90 



4. Twelve cubic inches of 



gait mixed with the soil 13$- 93 the largest. 

 930 



" The weight of the crop of potatoes was not 

 taken. The superior size of the roots pro- 

 duced by No. 4, left no room to doubt of the 

 advantage of 13 bushels of salt per acre, ap- 

 plied to the soil previous to planting, over the 

 other modes of application; still the superi- 

 ority was not very great." "I may notice 

 here," observes Dr. Holland, "a practice pur- 

 sued at Weston, near Frodsham, in the culture 

 of potatoes, which seems deserving of atten- 

 tion. At this place, situated close to the junction 

 of the Mersey and Weaver, sea mud is used 

 as a manure for crops of potatoes ; 20 loads 

 being the quantity usually laid on an acre. 

 The ground thus manured not only gives a 

 larger produce of potatoes, but is in a state of 

 excellent preparation for a succeeding crop of 

 either wheat or barley. The adoption of this 

 practice has increased very greatly the value 

 of land about Weston." 



There is also a paper by Mr. Knight " On 

 the advantages of employing large Tgbers for 

 Seed." "The good effects," he observes, 

 " which I have proved to arise from planting 

 large tubers of the potato plant, obviously 

 spring from the large accumulation of fecula 

 in them. Fed by means of this, not only a 

 large breadth of foliage is produced, and ex- 

 posed to sight more early in the year, but that 

 foliage contains much disposable organizable 

 matter, which once formed a part of the parent 

 tuber." Knight thought that the ordinary pro- 

 duce of potatoes might be very materially in- 

 creased. He remarks, "My opinion is, that 

 more than a thousand bushels of potatoes may 

 and will be obtained from an acre of ground." 



Potatoes are fermentable, and are conse- 

 quently employed along with barley by the 

 Scotch distillers; and, also, by the London 

 bakers in the manufacture of bread. The 

 fecula is also separated and sold as arrow-root: 

 it is a good and sufficiently pure starch ; but it 

 is less nutritive than the potato itself, owing to 

 the separation of the saccharine matter and the 

 albumen. 



POTATO-FLY or BEETLE. The green 

 cantharides, or Spanish-flies, as they are com- 

 monly called, are found in the south of Europe, 

 and particularly in Spain and Italy, where they 

 are collected in great quantities for exporta- 

 tion. In these countries they often appear in 

 immense swarms on the privet, lilac, and ash, 

 which are quickly stripped of their foliage by 

 these leaf-eating beetles. In like manner the 

 American species of cantharides devour the 

 leaves of plants, and sometimes prove very 

 destructive to them, especially to those of the 

 potato. Four native species of the cantharides 

 found in the United States, have been tried and 

 ascertained to be as effectual in raising blisters 

 as the imported species. The kind found on 

 the potato is the striped cantharis (Cantharis 

 vittata). It is of a dull, tawny yellow or light 

 yellowish-red colour above, with two black 

 spots on the head, and two black stripes on the 

 thorax and on each of the wing-covers. The 

 under-side of the body, the legs, and the anten* 

 nre are black, and covered with a grayish 

 down. Its length is from five to six-tenths of 

 an inch. In this and the three following spe 

 cies the thorax is very much narrowed before,, 



